Graduates of a Virginia high school thumbed their nose at the demands of the ACLU that a song sung at graduations since 1940 be banned because it references God.
Students at Thomas Walker High School in Ewing, Virginia locked arms after receiving their diplomas and sang “God Be With You Till We Meet Again.” The song has been sung during graduation since the school’s 1940 founding.
The ACLU had sent a threatening e-mail to school officials saying that students should be banned from singing the song, even at their own initiation, because the song makes a reference to God.
ACLU lawyer Rebecca Glenberg, in addition to wanting to remove any references to God from the graduation ceremony, also objected to a plaque of the Ten Commandments being displayed in a school hallway. The administration responded to the anti-Christianist demand by removing the plaque and eliminating the song from the ceremony.
The students, however, chose to revolt and refused to let the ACLU deny them their Constitutional right to express their faith.
The students also rose and recited the Lord’s Prayer at the invocation because it had also been removed from the ceremony.
A bill that would have mandated Pennsylvania schools display the phrase “In God We Trust” within their buildings has been weakened in an attempt to get it passed.
Representative Rick Saccone of Allegheny County has a history of introducing laws to acknowledge God’s role in the history of America. Saccone was behind the 2012 bill that declared the 2012 “The Year of the Bible” in the state.
Saccone introduced the “National Motto Display Act” to recognize the 150th anniversary of the phrase being placed on American currency by once Pennsylvania governor James Pollock. Pollack introduced the phrase during his time as the director of the United States Mint in Philadelphia.
“Our youth need to hear the story of our heritage and learn from positive role models in a time of decaying values,” Saccone stated. “The story of our national motto is a positive story and one that is uniquely Pennsylvanian.”
The bill was weakened by changing the mandate to post the phrase to an recommendation that schools may post the mandate at their option. The change unanimously passed the state House.
The Pennsylvania ACLU said that if the bill becomes law, schools will be placed as risk for lawsuits if they post the phrase.
The state of Louisiana is moving closer to naming the Holy Bible the official state book.
A committee in the House of Representatives approved the legislation last week and the bill now moves to the entire House for discussion and floor vote. The House Committee on Municipal, Parochial and Cultural Affairs passed the bill on an 8 to 5 vote.
The bill’s sponsor says that the purpose of the measure is not an attempt to establish an official state religion.
“It’s not to the exclusion of anyone else’s sacred literature,” Republican Representative Thomas Carmody told the Christian Post. Carmody said the Bible reflects America’s history and founding principles as outlined by the Founding Fathers.
Critics of the bill say its unnecessary and makes the state open to lawsuits by anti-Christian activists. The ACLU of Louisiana has also expressed their concerns about the bill saying the official state book should related to the history of Louisiana.
A North Carolina license plate that encourages people to “Choose Life” has been ruled unconstitutional by a federal panel.
Pro-abortion activists had sued to have the plates removed saying it was an unconstitutional promotion of religion by the state, but settled for the ruling regarding First Amendment issues.
The three-judge panel on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with a lower court judge that said the legislature’s refusal to allow pro-abortion messages to be placed on license plates while allowing the anti-abortion “Choose Life” violated the First Amendment rights of some citizens.
A spokeswoman for Attorney General Roy Cooper said he is reportedly reviewing the ruling to see if they will appeal to the full appeals court or to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The 4th Circuit had previously ruled that “Choose Life” license plates from South Carolina were also unconstitutional. The ACLU has been pushing the cases against the Choose Life license plates.
The Mount Soledad Memorial Association is not going to allow an anti-Christian lawsuit calling for only the removal of a cross from a veteran’s memorial to go down without a fight.
An appeal has been filed with the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals contesting the order of U.S. District Judge Larry Burns that a cross be removed from Mount Soledad because it was unconstitutional. The judge had stayed his order because he expected the appeal.
“If we fail to preserve this veterans memorial and the ACLU is successful in tearing down the oldest Korean War veterans memorial in the United States, then so too will be the fate of other veterans memorials like it, including the Canadian Cross of Sacrifice and the Argonne Cross in Arlington Cemetery,” a lawyer defending the MSMA told Fox News.
The ACLU’s lawsuit does not call for the removal of other religious symbols from the site including Stars of David.
A cross that has been the centerpiece of a veteran’s memorial near San Diego since 1913 will be destroyed because a federal judge agreed with anti-Christanists that the presence of the cross violates the constitution.
The 29 foot Latin Cross standing at the memorial replaced the original cross in 1954. The Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial contains 3,000 granite plaques individually honoring war heroes from every American war including Iraq and Afghanistan.
Congress made the memorial a “national memorial honoring the United States Armed Forces” in 2004. Congress noted the memorial was “replete with secular symbols” and other faiths including 18 Stars of David. Congress said the cross was a plurality of faiths.
The ACLU proceeded to continue their efforts to remove Christianity from society by suing to remove only the cross from all the religious symbols at the site. A U.S. District Court judge rules for the removal but stayed the order to give defendants a chance to appeal.
The American Civil Liberties Union once again forced the removal of a Christian item from a public place after reaching an agreement with the Jackson (Ohio) City School District. Continue reading →
An Alabama law that requires abortion doctors in the state to have staff privileges at a local hospital is being challenged in court by the pro-abortion group Planned Parenthood and the ACLU.
The pro-abortion activists say the law is unfair because a few abortion clinics will have to close because of the law to increase safety for women who choose to engage in killing their babies via abortion. Continue reading →
The American Civil Liberties Union is threatening to sue schools in Kentucky if they permit the Gideons to distribute Bibles on school grounds.
William Sharp, ACLU Kentucky staff attorney, accuses elementary school staff of violating federal laws by helping the Gideons give Bibles to students who request them. Continue reading →
A painting of Jesus that has hung in a southern Ohio middle school for 65 years is being moved after complaints from the anti-Christian Freedom From Religion Foundation and the ACLU. However, much to the dismay of the anti-Christian forces, the painting is being moved to the high school.
Members of the Hi-Y club, who originally put up the picture in 1947, are moving the photo to the high school where their members currently attend and meet. The middle school originally was the high school for the school district. Continue reading →